Hero Amid the Bullets: The Power of Female Friendship

Following his visit with survivors of the deadly Colorado shooting spree, President Barack Obama said he heard many remarkable stories of heroism.

The anecdote he most recalled, though, wasn’t about a parent saving a child, or a boyfriend tending to a girlfriend. It was the moving account of best friends – two young women whose bond was put to the ultimate test when one was shot in the neck.

With blood spurting from her wound, 19-year-old Allie Young urged her friend, Stephanie Davies, 21, to flee. “Stephanie refused.”

“I don’t know how many people at any age would have the presence of mind that Stephanie did, or the courage that Allie showed,” President Obama said. “And so, as tragic as the circumstances of what we’ve seen today are, as heartbreaking as it is for the families, it’s worth us spending most of our time reflecting on young Americans like Allie and Stephanie, because they represent what’s best in us, and they assure us that out of this darkness a brighter day is going to come.”